Your assignment is to read Chapter 4 and respond here. Choose one of the following options:

a) In the middle of this chapter, Jordan describes Gatsby. How does her description reinforce what you've been thinking about Gatsby? How is her description different from how he's been described so far and/or how you've been envisioning him up until this point? What's surprising? What isn't? Why? (These descriptions aren't necessarily literal. You might consider the impression you had of Gatsby before and you have now.)

b) Considering all four chapters you've read, what do you think of Nick as a narrator? Do you consider him an unreliable narrator or a reliable one? When you think about that, are you considering what kind of person he seems to be when assessing his narration? Has he said anything that has caused you to doubt him? When answering this question, please refer to specific passages by page number or even quoting text.

a) In Chapter 4, yet again Gatsby's reputation of being a wealthy and privileged man is reinforced. Events from his life are introduced such as medals he earned from the war, his exquisite jewel collection from Europe, and his education (college). However, my previous impression of Gatsby, a man planning his future and sustaining his hard earned wealth and maintaining a mysterious and aloof personality is changed as we see character development arise, effectively solidifying Gatsby's humanity. The chapter also explores Gatsby's past, his love life, and possibly sketchy actions taken by Gatsby, taking him out of the stereotype of an esteemed member of the upper class.

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Evan Zeng

6/12/2016 09:59:48 pm

The aura of mystery surrounding Gatsby continues from the second paragraph of the chapter. However, Jordan's story provides a deeper, more personal understanding of Gatsby by relating a story of Daisy and her (sort of) betrayal. We understand his image as an officer rather than some unknown figure.

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Evan Zeng

6/12/2016 10:04:09 pm

What we gather is why Gatsby is here, which is surprising. However, we still do not understand how exactly he became rich. Some of his mystery remains.

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Bhavik Nagda

6/12/2016 10:25:16 pm

Nick’s rather realistic representation of his accounts lend validity to his narration. For example, in chapter 2, Nick describes the chaos following the violence in a cut-up, choppy manner, truly recounting the episode in the manner in which he experienced it. He switches back and forth briefly from setting to setting, from “beside his bed” to “lying half asleep in the cold lower level of the Pennsylvania Station” with choppy dialogue: “Beauty and the Beast...Loneliness...Old Grocery Horse...Brook’n Bridge...” This style of writing implies not only the chaos that ensued but also his exhaustion and dazed state. Nick could have described his experience rather plainly, but he instead revealed bits and pieces to develop the mood. Nevertheless, there are specific spots that caused me to doubt him. Late in chapter 3, Nick portrays himself in a light greater than it seems. He states that “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known,” yet he acknowledges Jordan’s dishonesty, stating that she “was incurably dishonest” and that “it made no difference to him.” Yet if honesty is indeed a “cardinal virtue,” why does Nick neglect her dishonesty? This seemed to undermine his reliability. And can we trust Jordan’s account in chapter 4? Since Jordan does indeed become essential to the story, her dishonesty can very well fool the reader.

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Isaac Ehrlich

6/13/2016 10:43:22 am

I agree with Bhavik; Nick has certain qualities that make him a good narrator, but his high opinion of himself makes me question what he says. Nick unequivocally has a biased view. What I like about the way the book is written however, is that Nick doesn't try to hide it - he directly states that he likes Gatsby, thinks that Jordan is dishonest. Right from the first paragraph though, it is evident that Nick thinks highly of himself. Whether or not the way he interacts with other people is true, modesty is clearly not one of Nick's virtues. In Nick's recollection of certain scenes, such as the party at which he was drunk, you cannot be sure that Nick is recalling what actually happened, or if his memory is skewed

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Ayush Upneja

6/13/2016 12:10:41 pm

I agree with Isaac and Bhavik. Nick is a really good narrator, his very real descriptions serves to question whether or not he can even make up all this stuff. However, he does indeed have a high opinion of himself, which often leads people astray, making them lose credibility. For example, a lot of people like Obama because of his humbleness during his campaign. Meanwhile, a lot of people hate Trump because of how up and in your face he is about how amazing of a businessman he is. Credibility always goes down in the face of ego.

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Jaehun

6/13/2016 12:28:58 pm

I agree with everyone else that Nick is a good narrator. I think there are times when Nick seems unreliable. For example, when Nick describes Gatsby, his bias skews the facts, so it's best for the reader to take those with a grain of salt. But this is human and I think it makes Nick even more credible by portraying him as a human rather than a God or by making the story through an unfiltered window. Nick's humanness sacrifices factual credibility but it makes the story more interesting and seemingly more authentic.